1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to test systems and methods of developing same, and more particularly to Cloze type tests adapted to be automatically scored by optical scanning equipment or by microcomputer controlled apparatus.
2. Background of Cloze Testing
The "Cloze" procedure as a form of testing was introduced in a publication by Wilson Taylor in 1953. Originally developed as an improved method of assessing text readability, cloze testing involves the presentation of a prose passage from which words have been deleted, thereby leaving a series of gaps or spaces in the text. The examinee is asked to fill in the blank corresponding to the deleted word by supplying the missing word or a reasonable substitute for it. Different algorithms can be devised for deletion of every nth word; deletion corresponding to particular parts of speech; or random deletion of words. A large number of public studies of the cloze approach to testing have helped establish its validity as a measure of reading comprehension that is in several ways superior to conventional tests, e.g. those which rely on asking multiple choice questions. However, the procedure has a fundamental problem in that it requires scoring by "exact word" or "acceptable word" rules.
The traditional open-ended or "completion cloze" test methods have obvious short comings in large scale testing programs, in that they are not readily amenable to machine scoring such as by optical scanners. In order to render cloze testing amenable to machine scoring, "multiple choice cloze" appraoches have been developed. In this application, examinees are presented with four or five choices corresponding to each deleted word, and are asked to choose the best alternative word. However, this procedure has been criticized because the task is fundamentally one of recognizing the correct word, as opposed to producing it.
The subject matter of this invention encompasses specific developments of two formats that differ from the traditional cloze testing procedures, and which are adapted particularly for automatic scoring and/or presentation through a terminal screen. These formats are the "cloze-edit" procedure, and the "maze" procedure. In both of these procedures the test consists of a reading passage into which has been inserted, preferably randomly, words which are extraneous to the text. The task of the examinee is to elide, or strike out, the words that have been inserted into the running text. As a generic term for this general approach, I use the term Cloze-Elide testing. Although other alternative forms are possible, the invention is disclosed here only in terms of these two procedures, and particularly with respect to development of the cloze-edit procedure for automatic test scoring. The cloze edit technique in this general form has been discussed in the published literature. Reference is made to the publication of Davies in Testing Language Proficiency, edited by Jones and Spolsky, Center for Applied Linguisticts, pp. 119-130 (1975); Bowen, The Identification Of Irrelevant Lexical Distraction: An Editing Task, TESL Reporter, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 1-3, 14-16 (1978); and Mullen, An Alternative To The Cloze Test, TESOL, 1979.
In one embodiment of my development of the cloze edit test, specially prepared passages with distractor words inserted therein are printed on optically scannable answer sheets, and the examinee is required to eliminate the incorrect distractor words from the text by drawing a line through the words with a pencil or other marking device which generates a mark with reflectivity which is distinguishable from that of the printed text. Each text word, and particularly the distractor words which are to be deleted, are printed at precisely predetermined locations on the page, and programmably controlled optical scanner apparatus is utilized to determine which distractor words had been properly elided and which other text words have been incorrectly elided. Alternately, as set forth in greater detail under the Description of the Preferred Embodiments, the test passage may be presented electronically, such as on a video screen, with the examinee being provided means for electronically deleting the distractor words.
The maze technique has been disclosed in a series of studies by Guthrie (1973); Guthrie, Siefert, Bernum and Caplin (1974); Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald (1978); and Pikulskin (1977). In this general format, target words are selected from the given text, and two or more incorrect (foil) words are paired with the target word to form a triplet. The student then must choose from the presented options the word that is most appropriate. Generally, the triplets are chosen so that one of the "foil" words is in the same word class whereas a third word is in a different class. In this way, it is possible to distinguish between lexical and syntactical errors in reading the passage. While this format has the scoring advantage of a traditional multiple choice test, it has not heretofore been developed so as to be susceptible to automatic machine scoring.